Eight Families for the Price of One
by Elenor GreanLeEf
Summary: It took eight men to save the life of one. Eight families also suffered for just one. This is their story.
1. One

_Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Saving Private Ryan, although I wish I did. This is just a tribute to that movie. All original characters are my own or are built off of briefly mentioned characters. _

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"_You want to explain the math of this to me? Where's the sense in risking the lives of the eight of us to save one guy?," Reiben had asked._

"_Anyone wanna answer that?" Miller asked the group of men._

_Wade quickly replied, "Hey, Reiben, think about the poor bastard's mother."_

"_Hey, Wade, I got a mother, you got a mother, the Sarge has got a mother. Shit, I'll bet that even the Captain's got a mother," Reiben said and then looked at Miller. "Well, maybe not the Captain, but the rest of us have got mothers."

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**One**

"You two quite down will you?" the man said. "I'm trying to listen to the news." He went back to listening to the news. He managed to hear a bit about the storming of the beaches of Normandy before the two voices started bickering again. He sighed, stood up, and then went into the kitchen. "What are you two fighting over now?"

The two teens looked at him and went quiet. Then the older boy said, "It's his turn to do the dishes because I did them last night."

"No that isn't fair! You promised me that you would do the dishes two nights in a row if I did them last week. I did, so now it's your turn!" the younger one insisted.

"You can't prove that," the boy told him.

"But you promised."

The boy looked at his brother and said, "No I didn't."

"Quit that you two," their father told them. "Ian I heard you promise your brother that you would do them, so get to it."

His son let out a groan but didn't argue, he knew better.

"Now I'm going to go back to listening to the news. Please be quite," the man said and left the room. His other son followed him and sat down in a chair next to his. They listened to the news in silence for a few moments. It wasn't nothing new yet. D-day was a success but one with a terrible loss. Many of their American boys were dead now. All he knew was that his eldest son hadn't died there. He had received a letter from his son saying that he made it and that he was being sent on a new mission. He and seven other men were going to find another man who had lost all of his brothers. Personally he thought the mission his son was going on was stupid. It didn't make since that they were risking eight men to save one and what made it worse was that his son was one of those eight men. It was stupid.

"Dad when do you think he will come home?" his son asked drawing him out of his thoughts.

He sighed and shook his head before he said, "I don't know son I don't know."

"I miss him," the boy said.

"So do I," the man replied.

"Chores have gotten so much harder since him and sis aren't here anymore," his son said.

It caused the man to chuckle and then he said, "That wont change when he does come home. Your sister has a family of her own and your brother is getting married to his girlfriend. He is going to be moving out as soon as he finds a place for the two of them."

The boy sighed and asked, "So Ian and I are stuck with them aren't we?"

"You are," the man said while trying to hold back his laughter. It was cut of when he heard a knock on the door. He stood up and went to the door. He really didn't know who it would be because anyone they knew would just come inside and they didn't usually get visitors. When he opened the door he immediately knew something was wrong and wanted to shut the door again. They were clearly from the army and there was a priest with them.

"Mr. Caparzo?" one of the men asked.

He just nodded but couldn't say anything.

"Mr. Caparzo I regret to tell you this that your son Private Adrian Caparzo was killed in action," the man told him.

He suddenly felt like he couldn't breath and clutched at the door frame for support. It was too much of a shock to him. Hearing this was too hard on him.

"Sir these are for you," the man said and then held out a few things. He managed to take them before the man spoke again. "Would you like to speak with our priest?"

He shook his head and began to close the door. Before it was all the way closed he heard the man say, "I am truly sorry for your loss."

It barely registered as he made his way back to the living room and sat down. The radio was playing but he no longer wanted to hear anymore of it.

"Adam turn that off," he told his son as he looked down at the stuff in his hands. It appeared that there were a few letters as well as some other things. The rest of his son's personal things would probably be sent later when his body was brought home.

"Dad what's wrong?" he heard his son ask and it caused him to look up. Both of his boys were there looking at him worried.

He sighed and closed his eyes again before he finally said, "Adrian isn't coming home boys."

"What do you mean he isn't?" his youngest asked.

He sighed again and then said, "Your brother was killed."

Both of his son's broke down then. They screamed in denial and they cried. He tried to comfort them the best he could but he was falling apart as well. This was his worst nightmare come true.

Finally after the boys had calmed down and were upstairs in their room they both shared he looked back at the letters. The first one he opened was informing him that his son was dead. He quickly discarded this one and then looked at the next one. He didn't recognize the handwriting but the letter had seemed to come from his son. When he reached the end the strange handwriting was explained. A man named Irwin Wade had copied this letter from one that he had already written. It was his son's last request and also the last thing his son was worried about. He was thinking about his father when he died. His father could only hope that it had gave him some comfort.

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_A/N: Okay the idea for this just came into my head and I had to run with it. It shouldn't take very long for me to do, probably only a few days and shouldn't take away from my other SPR story. I was going to make it into just one long one shot but I thought dividing them into chapters would be a good idea. Maybe I'll write one for each day. I hope you like it. Please review. _


	2. Two

_A/N: I'm so glad that that many of you reviewed. I'm happy that that many of you liked this idea. Anyway here is another chapter for you lovely readers. I hope it is as good as the last one.

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**Two**

Two women were at their nursing station. Each was reading over patient's file. Finally the younger of the two women looked up and asked, "Have you heard anything from him Lillian?"

The older woman, who was probably in her late forties, early fifties, looked at her and shook her head, "No I haven't, not since his last letter."

"How was he in the last letter?"

"Alright I guess," Lillian said, with a sigh. "He and his company had just got finished taking the beaches of Normandy." She closed her eyes for a moment as if the memory caused her pain. "He's changed, I could tell it in his letter. He didn't go into details about what he saw but I could just tell how much it affected him. He was harder and more reserved than he was before he went over there. It worries me."

The other girl was silent for a moment before she nodded. "I understand what you mean. Jim's the same way," she said, "but I believe that they will be alright. Your boy is strong. He always has been."

"I hope you are right Annie," Lillian told her, and then went back looking at the chart.

Annie looked at her but didn't say anything. There wasn't anything that she could really say to the woman who she looked up to. It bothered her. She knew that Lillian lived alone since her son was overseas, and she could only imagine how lonely she was getting. If it wasn't for her job, there was a possibility that she wouldn't even get out of the house. All she could hope for is that Lillian's son would come home as soon as possible.

She was yanked out of her thoughts when she heard the first shift workers come in. Lillian looked up as well and then stood.

"Is there anything we need to know?" said one of the first shift nurses.

Lillian handed her the file that she had been looking at. "Yes keep an eye on Thomson; he has a high fever that I haven't been able to get down. Other than that, the rest of them are fine. Just keep with the regular checkups and don't forget to give them their meds." After she finished speaking, Lillian grabbed her things. While she was doing this, the nurse that Lillian had just spoken to rolled her eyes. Annie glared at her but the other nurse paid her no attention. This was how it always was. The younger nurses didn't respect Lillian as much as they should have and they didn't like it that they older woman was always giving them instructions. Annie hated how they never gave her any respect, but there wasn't anything she could do.

Finally Lillian began to leave the nursing station and Annie followed her. They were quiet even as they clocked out, and no one said anything until they had almost reached the entrance of the Hospital.

"Lillian do you have anything planned for this weekend?" Annie asked, trying to lay a foundation for what she really wanted to ask the older woman.

"No not really," she answered. "I'll probably just go home and finish that letter I'm writing to my son."

"Um, I have a question," Annie said, causing the Lillian to look at her. "Since you aren't busy, would you like to come over to my house tonight and have dinner with me?"

"Lillian shook her head before Annie could say anymore. "Thank you for the offer but I really don't want to tonight. I would like to just stay home, I hope you don't mind."

"No, I don't mind," Annie quickly told her. She was a little disappointed that Lillian didn't accept her offer, but she had gotten use to her saying no. However, it was still frustrating.

Lillian stopped walking and looked at her. "Annie I know how much you worry about me, but it really isn't necessary. I was alone when he was going through college and I can handle being alone now," she smiled and then shrugged her shoulders. "Eventually he's going to meet a nice girl and they are going to start a family, and I know he's not going to be around much then either. It's something that I've just got to get use to. Thank you for your offers though."

Annie sighed and was about to say something when she heard a voice cut her off.

"Do you know where we can find Lillian Wade?"

Both women turned around and looked at the man who was speaking. There were two men. One was dressed in an army outfit and the other was a priest.

Annie could hear a sound similar to a moan come from the direction were Lillian was at and she looked at her. She was horribly pale and it looked like it was taking all her strength to stay standing.

"I'm her," Lillian managed to breath out.

"Ma'am I'm so sorry to tell you this but," he began to say but Lillian cut him off.

"No, no don't say it. It isn't true!" she said. It already seemed like she was getting close to hysterical. There were tears in her eyes and she was slightly shaking. Annie went over to her and wrapped her arms around her. She buried her face into Annie's shoulder and began to sob. The priest walked over to her and put his hand on her back gently. This only caused her to sob even more. The other man walked over to them and handed Annie a letter.

"Make sure you give her this when she's calmed down, would you?" he asked.

Annie nodded and then turned back to comforting Lillian. She had no idea how she was going to keep her together now that her only son, Irwin had died.

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_A/N: I hope you enjoyed this and hopefully there will be another chapter of this, as well as a chapter up on "The Misleading Fairytale." I'm sorry that it's taking so long. I'm in college now and it's turning out to take up a lot of my time. Hopefully I'll find more time soon though. _


	3. Three

_A/N: Okay, as many of you know I've really been putting out several chapters, so I need to get one out for this story to. I hope you like it.

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A young woman was waiting in a doctor's office and she was clearly nervous. It was all she could do to keep herself from pacing.

"What could be takin' him so long?" she whispered to herself. Almost in response to her answer the doctor entered the room. He had a smile on his face and looked pleased.

"Have a seat Sarah," he told her. She almost didn't comply but she sat down anyway.

Finally she couldn't contain herself anymore. "What is it Doctor?" she asked. "There's something wrong with me ain't there?" Her nerves had her completely unaware to the fact that he was smiling.

He laughed at her response and then opened the folder in his hand. "No, Sarah nothing is wrong with you," he told her in a calm voice.

"How can there not be? I've been getting sick and…" the doctor cut her off by raising her hand.

"Calm down Sarah," he told her. "Things like that are completely normal for someone who is pregnant."

"Wait, what? Pregnant?" was all she was able to get out in her shock.

"Yes, pregnant, as in with child. I'm sure you know the term," he told her. He wasn't being rude; he was just trying to get her to calm down.

Sarah blinked a few times, as she absorbed this information. "I'm goin' to have a baby?" she asked as if to confirm what he was saying.

"Yes, you are."

Slowly, her shocked expression turned into one of pure joy, she couldn't believe this was happening.

"Congratulations are in order I believe," the doctor said. She realized that he was smiling now and it only caused her to smile even more.

"Thank you doctor," she told him.

"Now I know you probably want to go home and write your husband about the good news, so I'll let you go. About a month from now you'll need a checkup but that's all," he told her.

Sarah, still smiling, nodded and then stood up to leave. Before she left she looked at the doctor and said, "Thank you."

He just shrugged and said, "Don't think me. I didn't do anything other than give you the news, go thank your husband."

"I'll just do that," she said and then left. As she walked out of the building she couldn't stop thinking about what was happening. She had only just gotten married before her husband had been shipped overseas. In fact it was why they had gotten married so soon. Her and her husband had known one another for a long time, they had grown up together and once they became adults their friendship had turned into much more. When he had been drafted, they decided to get married. It was only a little under a month and then he had to leave, but during that time Sarah was the happiest she could have been. However, after he left it had been rough. His family was taking care of her but it didn't make the loneliness go away. So far she had just lived off of his letters, but now she had so much more to live for.

Sarah touched her stomach when she thought about this. Nothing was showing yet but she knew there soon would be. She could only hope that her husband would be home by then.

"What's goin' on?" asked a young man, when she finally got to the truck.

She smiled at him and then gave a hug. "Andrew, you are goin' to be an uncle!" she practically yelled out in joy.

"Gonna be a what?!" he asked rhetorically.

"An uncle!" she told him again.

Now he was smiling as well and hugged her. "That's fantastic Sarah!" he told her.

"Common, I wanna get home and tell your parents the news, and then I wanna write your brother," she said.

"Yes Ma'am," he said, still smiling and then got into the truck. She got into it as well.

After a moment he glanced at her and then asked, "What do ya' think it is?"

"Well really I dunno," she said. Then she leaned her head back and closed her eyes, "and I don't really care as long as it's happy, healthy, and gets to spend lots of time with its daddy.

"Yea'," he said and then smirked. "I bet it'll be a girl."

Sarah looked at him and asked, "Why do you think that?"

"I dunno," he said and smirked even more, "I just think it would be funny to see my brother's face when a whole bunch o' boys are chasin' after her."

This caused both of them to start laughing and Sarah shook her head slightly. "Well seriously, think about it," he said. "He's overprotective. He 'bout had a fit anytime our sis even talked to a boy, I won't even mention how he got when you talked to one."

Sarah laughed even harder before she said, "That ain't bein' overprotective, that's bein' jealous."

"True but I know that if another man came around you now, he'd break their arms if someone didn't hold him down," Andrew told her, grinning. "That is bein' overprotective."

"Alright! I give, I married a very overprotective man but I love 'em anyway," she said.

"Well that's good cause I don't think you'd have a say in the matter now," Andrew teased.

"Fine with me," Sarah said.

As they finished their friendly banter, Andrew pulled into their drive.

"Looks like they're already waitin' for us," Andrew commented when he saw that his parents and sister were outside.

"Yea' it does," she said but as they came to a stop, she realized that something wasn't right. Their expressions looked like they were upset and she knew it wasn't because of them being worried about her. Deep down, Sarah knew that something was truly wrong.

"What's goin' on?" she asked them as she got out of the truck.

"Sarah come here and sit down, you to Andrew," said Andrew's father. She did as she was told, and didn't like the fact that she was being told to have a seat for the second time that day. She knew this time wouldn't bring good news.

"There's no easy way to say it, so I'm just gonna say it," he told her, as he handed her a letter. "This was delivered today." He paused and took a breath of air before he continued. "Sarah, Daniel was killed over there."

Sarah shook her head, she could already tell she was about to start crying. "No…no that can't be right. It can't," she said shakily. "That can't, it can't happen."

"Sarah I know this is hard, we are all hurting to…" her father-in-law tried to say.

"It just can't happen, not after today. I'm…I'm pregnant. Daniel has to be here, he has to be here for his baby!" she said as she started to cry. Daniel's mother wrapped her arms around her and tried to comfort her. However, there was nothing that could be done. Daniel was dead and there was nothing that Sarah Jackson could do to bring him back. She would have to live without her husband, and their daughter would have to live without ever knowing her father.

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_A/N: Okay, I think I'm going to go cry now! I didn't realize how sad this chapter was going to end up being. I'm even asking myself how I could possibly be so cruel, and then I remember why I'm writing this in the first place. It's because I want to show how much other people suffered, and because I want to show what could have happened and did happen to other people…okay, that doesn't make me feel any better. Yup I'm going to go cry. I hope you all don't hate me for writing it like this and I will warn you, it won't get any better in the other chapters._


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